Herbal Medicine in Ancient Egypt

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The herbal medicine in ancient Egypt deals with the use and effects of medicinal plants as medicines in ancient Egypt . However, the ancient Egyptian medicines contained not only herbal, but sometimes also mineral and animal components.

Find sources for uses of medicinal plants

To this day, no doctor's grave with a collection of medicines for the afterlife has been found, so research is dependent on traditions. Around 2000 recipes have survived from ancient Egypt today . Of the approx. 700 ancient Egyptian drug names (drugs in the pharmaceutical sense) used in these formulations, only approx. 180 have been identified to date, 31 of which are medicinal plants. Recipes can be found e.g. B. in the Ramesseum papyri , medical papyri from Lahun or in the Edwin Smith papyrus . The most extensive source for ancient Egyptian herbal medicine is in Leipzig: the approx. 20 m long Ebers papyrus . It contains around 876 different drug formulas. The Hearst Papyrus names 260 recipes, of which over 90 also appear in parallel in the Ebers Papyrus. Further recipes can be found on ostracas and on healing statues (but here only towards the end of the New Kingdom).

List of medicinal plants that can be found in ancient Egypt

Only the most important medicinal plants and their uses are listed below, insofar as they have since been identified.

Nile acacia (Acacia nilotica)
  • Nile acacia or Arabian gum tree Acacia nilotica, the leaves are used externally for treating wounds, the acacia gum as a neutral medicinal base.
  • Kitchen onion Allium cepa , for wound treatment and externally for snake bites.
  • Leeks Allium porrum , for wound treatment.
  • Dill Anethum graveolens , mainly used externally.
  • Wild celery Apium graveolens , diuretic, gastrointestinal calming effect.
  • Frankincense tree of various Boswellia species, only known as a commercial product in ancient Egypt and as the heart of one of the most frequently used remedies both externally and internally. Later in the New Kingdom it was increasingly replaced by resin from the turpentine pistachio and other types of pistachio. In order to be independent of imports, the Egyptians tried to make the pistachio trees at home.
    Turpentine pistachio
Loading of the ships in punt with antui trees (pistachio trees), representation in the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari
  • Carob tree Ceratonia siliqua , the pods are very often used externally and internally.
  • Myrrh tree various Commiphora species, very often used as myrrh resin.
  • Conifers various Conifera species, the wood and the resin were used.
  • Cumin, Cuminum cyminum , often used to treat the abdomen. The essential oils , flavonoids , salicylates , choline and cumin contained in the fruits have an antibacterial, analgesic and antispasmodic effect.
  • Tigernut Cyperus esculentus , the oil as a medicinal base.
  • Papyrus Cyperus papyrus , as a cooked papyrus sheet for wound closure.
  • African ebony Dalbergia melanoxylon , the sawdust for eye disorders.
  • Fig Ficus carica , the fruit as a light laxative.
  • Sycamore fig Ficus sycomorus , the fruit as a light laxative, the leaves and the milky juice for wound care.
  • Cedar juniper Juniperus oxycedrus , the berry cones for bladder and kidney diseases, as a genital suppository to "loosen the child from the stomach".
  • Date palm Phoenix dactylifera , versatile use.
  • Pomegranate tree Punica granatum , the root bark as a wormer.
  • Castor tree Ricinus communis , the seeds as a drastic laxative, the oil for treating skin diseases, the leaf for closing wounds .
  • Egyptian willow Salix mucronata, catkins, leaves and wood topically used to treat inflammation.
    Salix mucronata "Egyptian willow"
  • Emmer Triticum turgidum, used externally to treat inflamed wounds and ulcers.
    Wild emmer
  • Grapevine Vitis vinifera , wine was used as a solvent in medicinal recipes.

There are many other medicinal plants that are very likely to be known and used by the ancient Egyptians, but whose ancient Egyptian names cannot yet be translated into the papyri. Also for found in graves or z. For example , plants depicted in the herb chamber of the Karnak Temple are mostly unknown to the ancient Egyptian names.

Manufacture of herbal medicines in ancient Egypt

The recipe specifications consisted of indications, components including dimensions (dimensions of measure in red letters), manufacturing instructions and instructions for use. The Egyptians can already be attested to have a highly developed skill in the manufacture of medicines, for example “leaving a mixture of medicines to rest overnight”, which today would be called extraction - boiling, soaking or thickening. Wine, beer, milk, water and vegetable oils were used as the pharmaceutical bases, and cereal porridge and animal fats were used for a firmer consistency.

Examples of ancient Egyptian medicines

  • Castor seeds as a laxative: “Another remedy for emptying the abdomen and eliminating symptoms in the man's stomach: seeds of the castor plant; will be chewed, will be washed down with beer until everything comes out that is in his stomach. "
  • Cumin for the treatment of the stomach: "Another (remedy) for the stomach when it is sick: cumin 1/64 ro , goose fat 1/8 ro, milk 20 ro, is boiled, is pressed through, is drunk."
  • Root of the pomegranate tree as a worming agent: “Killing the yeast worm. Root of the pomegranate tree 5 ro, water 10 ro is exposed to the dew at night, is pressed through, is drunk for a day. ”In fact, the root bark of the pomegranate tree contains highly effective pyridine alkaloids against tapeworms.
  • Juniper berries as a diuretic: “Another (remedy for eliminating urine when it is too much): der3d.t plant root 1/4, grapes 1/8, honey 1/4, juniper berries 1/32, sweet Beer 7 1/2 ro, will be boiled, will be pressed through, will be drunk in one day. "
  • Juniper berries in uterine-contracting suppositories: "Another (remedy for loosening a child from the woman's belly): Juniper berries 1, ní3í3 plant 1, coniferous resin 1, are made into suppositories, are put into the vagina."
  • Remedy for eliminating a lot of children's cries : špnn (fruit / grains) of the špn plant. It is not clear whether this could possibly mean poppy seeds. “The droppings of flies that are on the wall; will be made into a mass, will be pressed through, will be drunk for four days. (It) stops quickly. "

At the Mainz Institute for Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz , Egyptologist Tanja Pommerening , who is also a licensed pharmacist, copied and published some medicines based on original Egyptian recipes from the Ebers papyrus.

Drug application and magic

The ancient Egyptian texts have a standardized structure consisting of a recipe (manufacturing instruction), forecast, teaching text and magic spell . Incantations were spoken over the raw materials, and the use of the medicines was intertwined with healing spells and rituals. The use of a remedy or incantation has always been traced back to the world of the gods to increase its effectiveness.

Examples: “the beginning of the remedies that Re made for himself”, “a second remedy that Shu made for himself” or “a third remedy that Shu made for Re himself”. The drugs were administered orally, vaginally, anally, through anointings, bandages, poultices, potions and incense.

Significance of ancient Egyptian herbal medicine for subsequent cultures

The ancient Egyptian medicine had a very good reputation among the Greeks. It is very difficult to grasp the importance of ancient Egyptian herbal medicine for subsequent cultures, as many medicinal plants have not yet been clearly identified. On the other hand, it is very unlikely that the wealth of experience of the ancient Egyptians was abruptly lost with the end of the Pharaonic era.

The Greek doctor Pedanios Dioskurides tried to collect the knowledge of his time in a materia medica that he wrote . The descriptions of the many plants he prefers synonyma (i.e. names of the plants in other peoples), in 105 cases also Egyptian names. However, a large proportion of these plants were not native to ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptian name of only four plants is known: castor, cedar juniper, dill and lettuce, although the latter is not mentioned in any medical papyrus.

For a few plants it can be seen that their Coptic name contains ancient Egyptian roots. In the Coptic papyrus Chassinat (6th – 9th centuries AD) with 237 recipes, connections to ancient Egyptian medicine can be made for approx. 46 plants without knowing the respective ancient Egyptian name.

See also

literature

  • Anton Curic: The medicine of the pharaohs. Healing art in ancient Egypt. H + L, Cologne 1999.
  • Renate Germer: The medicinal plants of the Egyptians. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf a. a. 2002, ISBN 978-3-538-07144-5 .
  • Renate Germer: Handbook of the ancient Egyptian medicinal plants (= Philippika. Volume 21). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 978-3-447-05632-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ extensively described in: John Richard Harris: Lexicographical Studies in Ancient Egyptian Minerals (= German Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Institute for Orient Research. Publication , No. 54). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1961.
  2. ↑ Tanja Pommerening : Ways to identify ancient Egyptian drug names - a critical consideration. In: P. Dils, L. Popko (Ed.): Between Philology and Lexicography of Egyptian-Coptic. Files of the Leipzig final conference of the academy project "Ancient Egyptian Dictionary" (= treatises of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig. Philological-historical class. Volume 84, Issue 3). Hirzel, Stuttgart / Leipzig 2016, p. 82.
  3. ↑ in the most extensive work on Egyptian drugs to date : Hildegard von Deines, Hermann Grapow : Dictionary of Egyptian drug names (= outline of the medicine of the ancient Egyptians. Volume 6). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1959, 691 drugs are listed.
  4. ^ In Wolfhart Westendorf : Handbook of ancient Egyptian medicine. 2 volumes (= Handbuch der Orientalistik. Volume 36). Leiden, Boston / Cologne 1998 there is a list of 176 identified drug names.
  5. ↑ Julia Budka : The Art of Healing and Magic. Medicine in ancient Egypt. In: Kemet. Volume 9, No. 4, 2000, p. 17.
  6. ↑ Ian Shaw, Paul Nicholson (ed.): Reclam's Lexicon of Ancient Egypt. Reclam, Stuttgart 1998, p. 265.
  7. ↑ Hans W. Fischer-Elfer: Medicine in Ancient Egypt. In: Harald Froschauer, Cornelia Römer (Ed.): Between Magic and Science. Doctors and healing arts in the papyri from Egypt (= Nilus. Studies on the culture of Egypt and the Middle East. Volume 13). 2nd corrected edition, Phoibos, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-85161-011-6 , p. 46.
  8. ↑ Tanja Pommerening: Ancient Egyptian Recipes * A Diachronic Contemplation. In: History of Pharmacy. 2012, Volume 64, Issue 3, p. 36f.
  9. ↑ taken from: Renate Germer: Handbook of ancient Egyptian medicinal plants. Wiesbaden 2008.
  10. ↑ clarifying this: Tanja Pommerening: The ancient Egyptian measure of measure (= studies on ancient Egyptian culture. Supplements 10). Buske, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-87548-411-8 .
  11. ↑ all of the following examples from: Renate Germer: The medicinal plants of the Egyptians. Düsseldorf u. a. 2002.
  12. ↑ Papyrus Ebers, § 25
  13. ↑ Papyrus Ebers, § 5
  14. ^ Papyrus Ebers, § 50
  15. ↑ Papyrus Ebers § 278 corresponds to Papyrus Hearst § 64
  16. ^ Papyrus Ebers, § 806
  17. ↑ Papyrus Ebers, § 782
  18. ^ Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz ; Institute for Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Department 07, History and Cultural Studies: Ancient Egyptian remedies made according to original recipes. ( Full text as PDF file ).
  19. ↑ on this: Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert , Tonio Sebastian Richter: Ancient Egyptian magic spells (= Universal Library. Volume 18375). Reclam, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-018375-8 .
  20. ↑ Papyrus Ebers, § 242.
  21. ↑ Papyrus Ebers, § 243
  22. ^ Papyrus Ebers, § 244
  23. ↑ Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert : Medicine in Ancient Egypt. In: Harald Froschauer, Cornelia Römer (Ed.): Between Magic and Science. Doctors and healing arts in the papyri from Egypt. Vienna 2009.
  24. ↑ Homer: Odyssee IV, 229–232, in the translation by Hampe R. Stuttgart: Reclam; 1979 Cf. also the passage about the Egyptian doctors in Herodotus II, 84.
  25. ↑ Renate Germer: Handbook of ancient Egyptian medicinal plants. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 13.
  26. ↑ Renate Germer: Handbook of ancient Egyptian medicinal plants. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 16.